Gray Jedi – chap 5 – by auguy86
The cave of the Dark Side… , Gray Jedi Ch. 5
“Anything yet?”
“No, nothing,” replied Serra.
The two Jedi crept through the murky cave, looking for potential danger around every corner. Still, both suspected that any threats they would encounter would not be of the physical variety, but of the spiritual. Remaining calm and focused was a constant struggle; as Yoda had said, the cave was strong with the Dark Side of the Force. Through it all, they continued to press onward.
“I’m sensing something up ahead,” Malik said.
“Yeah, I feel it too. It’s something… evil.”
They clasped hands as they rounded the bend, finally arriving in a circular cul-de-sac. It appeared at first to be completely empty, but the growing presence of evil was unmistakable. As they arrived at the center of the room, everything turned pitch black around them. In the darkness, Malik could no longer feel Serra’s hand within his.
“Serra? Serra! Where are you?!”
But he heard no reply…
*****
“Malik?” Serra said weakly.
To her horror, her true love lay on the floor of the Jedi Temple, his body beaten and bruised, a hole seared through his chest. Around him were the bodies of no less than a dozen younglings, and ahead were the remains of her master, Cin Drallig. As Serra began to weep at the devastation around her, the sound of a lightsaber igniting behind her caught her attention. Relying on her warrior reflexes, she spun to face the threat.
“Skywalker,” Serra seethed.
The former Jedi approached, his hood obscuring his face, though Serra could tell it was twisted into an expression of sick pleasure. He was enjoying this, both seeing the destruction he had caused and the effect it was having on Serra. As she reached for her lightsabers, Serra realized all of a sudden that she was unarmed. She had no weapon to face Skywalker with.
“Look at this,” Anakin whispered. “Look at what you’ve done.”
“Wha… what? What I’ve done?”
“This is your fault, Serra.”
“No…”
Anakin lunged, his blue blade whirling around him. Drawing on the Force, Serra executed several athletic evasions, cartwheeling backwards to put some distance between herself and Anakin. She attempted to use the many pillars around the room as cover, but this only enraged Anakin further, and he began cutting them down, even throwing his saber into them every so often.
“You were too weak to stop me! You were too weak to protect them! YOU!”
“No… it can’t be…” Serra whimpered.
“And now look at what you’re reduced to: running and hiding. Pathetic! Did you EVER think you would be able to live up to your master’s expectations! You are a DISGRACE to everything Cin Drallig ever taught you!”
At that moment, Serra attempted to wrest control of the situation from him, leaping out from behind a pillar and attempting a chokehold on Anakin from behind. He was ready for her, swinging his saber wildly and forcing her to disengage. Anakin turned to face her, his eyes burning with rage.
“It’s all… your… FAULT!!!”
As he screamed at her, bolts of lightning shot from Skywalker’s hand, striking Serra and knocking her to the ground with a thud. She writhed in pain as he approached, taunting her as he towered over her crumpled form.
“Pathetic… a sorry excuse for a Jedi.”
*****
Malik stepped through the doors of the Council Chambers and was presented with one of the direst situations he had ever encountered. A group of younglings stood in the corner, huddled around each other in fear. Approaching them was a dark hooded figure, appearing as a beast on the hunt. Hearing him enter, the figure stopped and turned, revealing the face of Emperor Palpatine.
“Malik Ran… I’ll be with you in a moment,” he croaked before returning his gaze to the children.
“I don’t think so,” Malik replied, stepping forward.
“Heheheh… and how precisely do you plan to stop me? You are without a weapon, boy.”
Malik smirked. “I’m never without a weapon. I have the Force.”
Just as Palpatine was about to attack, Malik reached out with his mind and telekinetically threw him backwards. Palpatine landed with a thud in Master Yoda’s chair, and he took a moment to compose himself before rising to his feet.
“Brave of you, boy… but foolish.”
“You will do these young ones no harm.”
Malik leapt into the air straight at Palpatine, attempting to land a Force-fueled punch to his face. The Sith Lord was too quick, though, and evaded with relative ease. He charged the young Jedi and attempted to strangle him, but Malik was ready, stunning Palpatine with a pair of quick jabs to his abdomen. The pair now engaged in their bout of fisticuffs, they each drew on as much of the Force as they were able to, trading blows with incredible speed and strength. But soon Palpatine gained the upper hand, taking advantage of Malik losing his footing for a brief moment. Before he knew what was happening, Malik was flung to the other side of the room and pinned under several of the Council’s chairs.
“Now then, as I said… I’ll be with you in a moment,” Palpatine said with an evil laugh.
Malik began to realize what Palpatine intended: he wanted to make the Jedi watch helplessly as he murdered the younglings. He approached the group and turned his dark powers on the children, beginning to choke the life out of them with the Force. Malik did everything he could to try and counteract Palpatine’s actions, but to no avail. Seeing no other alternative, Malik decided he had to use the power he swore he’d only use for healing.
“Palpatine! Take this!”
Thrusting his one free hand at the Sith Lord, Malik unleashed a torrent of lightning towards his enemy. Palpatine had no clue what hit him, collapsing at once into a crumpled heap on the floor. The younglings now released, two of them rushed to Malik’s aid, levitating the chairs off of him. All the while, Malik kept up his assault on Palpatine. Though he felt the strong desire to give him a lethal dose of electricity, the Jedi somehow managed to restrain himself. Instead, he kept the level of pain just at the threshold of subduing the target without doing any permanent damage. He sauntered over to the fallen Sith, his pride welling up in him as he towered over Palpatine.
“You… have failed, boy. You are now… one of us…” Palpatine hissed.
“Wrong. I’ll never turn to the Dark Side. You are the one who has failed; failed to grasp the concept of Force Lightning. I have harnessed a force of nature and channeled it for protecting the innocent. You only use this power for death and pain.”
“You… still… use it…”
“Only when it is the last resort,” Malik interrupted. “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. I used the Force to defend these younglings from you. You cannot fool me.”
Sensing that enough of Palpatine’s strength had been drained to where he could be restrained, Malik ceased his use of Force Lightning. Palpatine heaved and gasped on the floor, rolling onto his side.
“Do it… finish me… I… will only… come back… stronger…”
“Perhaps… if you were more than an illusion,” Malik replied with a grin.
*****
“Ungh…”